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Comparative Study on Cementitious Content of Ground Mollusc Snail and

Clam Shell and their Mixture as an Alternative to Cement

Article · August 2017

DOI: 10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V50P202

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 50 Number 1 August 2017
Comparative Study on Cementitious Content
of Ground Mollusc Snail and Clam Shell and
their Mixture as an Alternative to Cement
Orlando Ketebu #1, Salome .T. Farrow #2
#
Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
#
Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Abstract Snail and clam shells are waste materials
from Snail and Clam after removing the edible part.
They are often dumped as waste to the environment
and causes environmental pollution. This research
aimed at comparing admixtures from these waste
shells as alternative to cement. Snail shell, Clam
shell and Snail/Clam shell mixtures were used as
partial replacement of cement in this work because
of their pozzolan nature. The result from the
experiment carried out showed that Snail/Clam shell
mix mortar mould had better comprehensive
strength compared to snail or clam shell mould
respectively at partial replacements by weight (10-
30%). The comprehensive strength of the mortar
mould also decreases with increase shell ash content
mixed with the cement. Maximum partial
replacement by weight of cement with snail shell ash
was obtained at 20% with comprehensive strength of
20 N/mm². Clam shell ash was at 25% with
comprehensive strength 30 N/mm² while Snail/Clam
shell ash mixture had comprehensive strength of 38
N/mm² at partial replacement of 25%. The initial
and final setting times for the blended cement paste
increases as the shell ash replacement increases
with Snail shell ash blended cement having higher
initial and final setting, followed by Snail/Clam
mixture blended cement.
Keywords — Cementatious, Snail & Clam
Admixtures, Compressibility strength, Setting time
I. INTRODUCTION
Snail and Clam are small marine animals belonging
to the group phylum Mollusca and class gastropod
[1]. Their shells are produced as waste materials
from the local consumption of these animals and
also from food industries. These shells are often
dumped as waste material to the environment due to
poor waste management system in third world
countries like Nigeria. With time these waste shells
results in environmental pollution which becomes
harmful to humans residing in these areas and also
affects water ways inhabiting animals. One way of
converting these waste shells to useful materials and
also reduce environmental pollution is to use them as
admixtures in the cement and concrete industries.
Admixture or Pozzolans are materials added as
ingredient of concrete aside cement, aggregate and
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org
water before or during mixing [2] Admixture
materials are obtained from natural materials or by
products from other processes. Admixtures are
known to improve the strength characteristics of
cement, its workability, hardening properties and
also reduce the cost of concrete construction [3].
Cement is used as binders to improve the strength of
materials in construction and building works while
concrete is the combination of cement, aggregate
(gravel or granite, sand) and water used in
construction.
In Nigeria the pricey nature of cement and other
construction materials such as concrete has affected
building and construction projects. This has made it
difficult for the average Nigerian to build their
homes, road, drainage etc., thus, the need for
alternatives to cement such as admixtures from
locally found natural materials is highly encouraged.
Research have shown that Pozzolan admixtures from
different agricultural waste can be used as partial
replacement of cement in construction such as
sawdust ash [4], rice husk ash [5][6], cassava starch
admixtures[7], snail shell ash and periwinkle shell
ash [8] [9]. Their result showed that the admixtures
improve the strength and hardening properties of the
concrete, reduces possible environmental pollution
and also reduction in the cost of construction.
The aim of this work is to study comparatively the
effect of waste snail and clam shells and their
mixture as cementatious content for the partial
replacement of cement on the strength of concrete.
Although works has been carried out on snail shells,
Clam shell separately, to the best of my knowledge
no work has been carried out on the combined
strength characteristics of snail and clam shell as
cementatious material compared to the their
individual shells. In this research work, land snail
was chosen in preference to water snail because of
its availability in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria,
and it is mostly consumed locally in this region and
generates most of the environmental pollution.
Snails are marine animal (phylum Mollusca and
class gastropod), and belongs to the group of
exoskeletons that contains rigid and resistant
component that plays functional role like protection
from temperature, support, feeding, acting, etc. They
differ in sizes and nature but possess some
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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 50 Number 1 August 2017
characteristics that distinguish them such as their
coiled nature, feeding habits and pattern, shell
hardness and content of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).
The content of CaCO3 in snail shells allows for its
use as partial replacement for ordinary Portland
cement. The land snails are found in bushes and
forests while sea snails are found in Rivers and sea
same as Clam.
Clam is a bi-valve sea animal (having two shells)
unlike snail which is uni-valve in nature. Clam is
found in brackish deep water, in river bed and is a
seasonal animal. It is a species of the molluscs and
possesses rigid and resistant component that fulfil a
set of functional role like protection from predators,
support, feeding, acting, etc. They are consumed
daily in diets in most homes in the south-south and
south-eastern part of Nigeria.
Research has been carried out on the Strength
Characteristics of Snail Shell Ash Blended Cement
Concrete [10][11], snail shells has been used in
cement mortars for masonry and plastering [12].
Research has also been carried out on clam shells as
beach retaining wall [1]. Research has shown that
Clam shell is richer in micro-nutrients compared to
land snail, water snail and periwinkles shells [13].
And also research have shown that snail and clam
shells contains the constituent of ordinary potland
cement (OPCEM) which gives its strength,
specifically calcium oxide (CaO) and silicon oxide
(SiO2) [14]. This makes snail and clam a possible
alternative for the replacement of the cement.
II. MATERIALS AND METHOD
The shell Admixtures were produce through the
following steps. First, Snail and clam shells were
collected from dumpsite at Amassoma in Southern
Ijaw Local government Area of Bayelsa State in
Nigeria. The shells were washed and impurities such
as soil, dirt and other organic materials were
removed and the shells sun-dried. The shells were
cracked into smaller pieces and placed in a Vecter
furnace at 800oC to form ash. The ashes were then
crushed and gently grind with mortar and pestle to
powder form. Finally, A 300µm (micron) sieve
mesh was used to produce fine powder (pozzolan)
from the shell ash and stored in a bottle. Ordinary
Portland cement used as binding agent together with
sand was bought from a local shop.
The specific gravity of the shell ash sample were
determined in accordance with British standard
applying the equation [15]
w2 − w1
Spgr = 1
w2 − w1 − w3 − w4
Where, W1 is the weight of an empty bottle with
stopper, W2 is the weight of the bottle filled with
shell ash to about three quarter of the bottle, W3 is
the weight of the bottle filled with shell ash and
water covered with stopper and W4 is the weight of
the empty bottle filled with water and stopper.
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org
The bulk density of the waste shell ash sample was
determined using the equation below:
Weight of substance
Bulk Density = 2
Volume of substance
2.1 MORTAR CUBES PRODUCTION
The moulds of size 100mm X 50m X 50mm was
used for casting of the mortar cubes in the form of
bricks. The moulds were cleaned and oiled with used
engine oil to enhance easy removal of the cubes after
setting and to prevent damage of the test cubes.
Cement to sand and water mix ratio of 1:3:0.5 was
adopted due to the sand particle size [14]. The
control block or mould (0% pozzolan) was mixed
thoroughly by means of a hand trowel on a non-
absorbent tray to obtain a homogenous mixture. The
mix was then placed in a mold and allowed to set for
a day before removing. The molding process was
repeated for cement replacement with 10%, 20%,
30% and 40% of Snail shell, Clam shell and
snail/clam shell mixtures respectively at equal ratio.
The casted blocks was placed in water bath and
cured for 7 days. The curing allows the blocks to
maintain satisfactory moisture content.
2.2 COMPRESSIBILITY TEST
The compressive strength of the cubes was carried
out at the end of the seven days curing period. The
block cubes were removed from the curing tank and
weighed before taken to a compressive strength
machine with capacity 1000KN to determine their
comprehensibility.
2.3 SETTING TIME
The initial and final setting time for the mould was
done to determine the consistency of the mould as it
sets after moulding. The initial set is taken as the as
the time passed from when the paste was prepared to
when it set. And the consistency test for the mould
followed similar procedure by [15], at Civil
Engineering Department laboratory in Niger Delta
University Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
Figure 1 shows the materials and equipment used for
the research: (a) Land snails, (b) Clams, (c)
weighing balance (d) sieve (e) ground snail and clam
shells (f) furnace (g) Curing bath with blocks (h)
compressibility machine
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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 50 Number 1 August 2017

alternative to cement compared to snail or clam

separately.

Table 2 Comprehensive test of shell ash

a b
Shell ash Percentage Comprehensive
replacement (%) strength (N/mm²)

0 48
Snail
10 10

c d e 15 15

20 20

25 15

30 10

f g 0 48
Clam
h 10 18

Fig 1 Materials and equipment used 15 23

20 26
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 shows the average specific gravity and bulk 25 30
density of the samples (snail shell ash, clam shell ash 30 15
and ordinary potland cement) after three separate
experiments. 0 48
Table 1 Specific gravity of the samples Clam/Snail
mixture 10 20
Material Specific gravity Bulk Density
15 27
(g/cm³)
20 32

Snail shell ash 2.47 1.26 25 38

Clam shell ash 2.54 1.32 30 30

Cement 3.15 1.30

Table 3: Initial Setting Time

Table 2 shows the compressibility strength test of
the snail ash, clam ash, snail and clam ash mixture at Sample (%) Snail Clam Snail & Clam
0 %, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% replacement of (minutes) (minutes) (minutes)
cement by these pozzolans ashes. The data showed
that the compressibility strength for the samples 0 100 100 100
increases with increase with cement replacement and
decreases after the maximum percent replacement 10 110 105 108
has exceeded. The snail shell has maximum
comprehensive strength at 20% replacement, Clam 15 120 110 112
shell ash at 25% and Clam/snail shell mixture ash at
25% at a comprehensive strength of 40N/mm². 20 130 125 125
Although the initial comprehensive strength of the
samples was lower than that of the control (0% 25 145 130 135
replacement). This is because of the slow process of
pozzolans which allows for the hydration of the 30 160 145 153
cement. The result from Table 2, showed that the
mixture of Clam and snail had higher compressive
strength at replacement 10 – 25 percent compared to
snail or clam respectively. Clam and snail mixture
has maximum comprehensive strength at 25%
replacement of cement which makes it a better

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 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume 50 Number 1 August 2017
Table 4: Final Setting Time
Sample Snail Clam Snail & Clam
(%) (minutes) (minutes) (minutes)
0% 160 160
10% 200 180
15% 215 200
20% 225 210
25% 238 225
30 245 230
Table 3 and 4 shows the initial set time and final set
time for the paste. The data showed that both the
initial and final set time increases with increased
percentage replacement of cement with the shell ash.
These increases can be attributed to the decrease in
hydration due to increase shell content on the cement
and also the amount of water needed to mix the paste.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
Snail shell, Clam shell and Snail/Clam shell mix can
be used as partial replacement of cement in
construction and in manufacturing because of their
pozzolan nature. Snail/Clam shell mix mortar mould
showed better comprehensive strength compared to
snail or clam shell mould respectively at partial
replacements by weight (10-25%). This can be
attributed to the combined pozzolan properties of the
individual shells. The comprehensive strength of the
mortar mould also decreases with increase shell ash
content mixed with the cement. The maximum
partial replacement by weight of cement with snail
shell ash is 20% with comprehensive strength of 20
N/mm², Clam shell ash at 25% with comprehensive
strength 30 N/mm² and Snail/Clam shell ash mix at
25% with comprehensive strength 38 N/mm². The
comprehensive strength of the mortar mould was
observed to decreases with increase replacement of
cement with the shell ash.
The initial and final setting times for the blended
cement paste increases as the shell ash replacement
increases. Snail shell ash blended cement had higher
initial and final setting, followed by Snail and Clam
mixture blended cement. Clam shell blended cement
had the lowest initial and final setting time. This
might be due to its bivalent nature and the large
amount of calcium carbonate found on it compared
to snail shell.
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ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org
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